From the roots twang to the distorted overdrive, the guitar is the perfect vehicle for the delivery of the strikingly eclectic music of Olli Hirvonen. His new recording, Kielo, finds Hirvonen and his longstanding trio of Marty Kenney and Nathan Ellman-Bell focusing on the myriad possibilities inherent in the six strings, especially as the Nordic ethereality of the leader’s music becomes more and more enmeshed in the roots sounds of his adopted home in Brooklyn.
After earning his master’s in 2013 from Manhattan School of Music, he worked hard and smart on the New York scene and beyond. In 2016, he won first prize at the Montreux guitar competition, where his expressiveness made an impression on the head judge, John McLaughlin. The music that Olli Hirvonen makes these days is indebted to sounds that he absorbed from his youth in Finland. The Nordic feel that he brought from Europe has now been merged with the Americana influences of his new home, leading to the wonderful, earthy sound that can be heard on Hirvonen’s new recording.
Patrick Smith has written and performed his music with oDD Camp, the Solaris Guitar Trio, FingerPaint, and as a soloist. His works for dance have been performed in New York, Richmond, Philadelphia, and at the JFK Center for Performing Arts in Washington, DC. Recently he released his 3rd solo guitar CD, Fences, Frames and Alleys
